Emergency alerts coming to mobile devices, CRTC says

You can expect alerts about missing children, tornadoes, forest fires, industrial spills and other emergencies to pop up on your smartphone in the not-too-distantfuture.

Canada's wireless industry has now developed specifications for such alerts the first big step in the process of bringing such alerts to wireless devices, Canada's telecommunications regulator announced Tuesday.

However, more work needs to be done to make sure those standards will work in the real world,said Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission vice-chairman of telecommunications Peter Menziesin a statement.

The alerts will be tested during a public pilot project in 2016, the CRTC says.

Canada's emergency alert system launched this past March31, allowing most Canadians to get alertsfrom officials such as fire marshals, police officers and public health personnel through radio and TV services. However, the CRTC considers it "critical" that such messages be delivered on mobile devices also.

"Canadians carry their mobile devices with them everywhere and should have access to life-saving information as soon as it is available," said CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais in a statement.